Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Daniel
A COMMENTARY OR EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK of the Prophet DANIEL.
Ver. 1. THE book of Daniel] Written by himſelf (not by another of his name,Lib 12. contra Chriſtian. in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, as wicked Porphyry, that profeſſed enemy of Chriſtianity,Mr Aſcham. blaterateth) like as Xenophon and Julius Caeſar wrot their own acts ſo wiſely and impartially, as none have been ſo upright in writing the hiſtories of others. This divine Book is (for the matter of it) partly Hiſtorical, and partly Prophetical. The hiſtorical part we have in the ſix firſt Chapters; ſc. a continuation of the hiſtory of the Books of Kings, Hieron. Ep. 103. ad Paulin.during the whole time of the Captivity, and after it. Hence Hierom calleth Daniel Multiſcum & totius Mundi Polyhiſtorem, a general Hiſtorian. The Prophetical part (beginning at the ſeventh Chapter) foretelleth future things in the ſeveral Monarchies, but very obſcurely, according to that of the Angel, chap. 12.9, 10. Go thy way Daniel; for the words ore cloſed up, and ſealed till the end of the time, &c. and according to that Hieroglyphick of Prophecy, which hangs (they ſay) among other pictures in the Vatican Library at Rome, like a Matrone with the eyes covered, for the difficulty. Whence it was, that Paulinus Biſhop of Nola, though able, would never be drawn to write Commentaries; Cajetan and Calvin would ſet no Notes upon the Revelation: and Piſcator, after that he had commented upon the other Prophets, when he came to Daniel, he met with ſo many dark and difficult paſſages, ut parum obfuerit, ſaith he, quin in medio commentandi curſu ſubſiſterem, & calamum è manu deponerem, that he was even ready to lay down his pen,Piſcat. Epiſt. dedicat. ante Com. in Dan. and to lay aſide the buſineſſe. But this he did not, as conſidering that the beſt, whiles here, know but in part, Prophecy but in part, &c. and that the promiſe is, though none of the wicked underſtand this Prophecy, yet the wiſe ſhall, chap. 12.10. Hierom well ſaith,Quod alio tempore canitur, alio cernitur. De vir. perfect. that a Prophecy is therefore obſcure, becauſe it is ſaid at one time, and ſeen at another. And one thing that cauſeth a cloud in Daniel is the tranſpoſing of the hiſtory here often uſed: as the Propheſies contained in the ſeventh and eighth Chapters, which were ſhewed unto Daniel under the reign of Belſhazzar, in order ſhould be ſet before the ſixth Chapter, &c. He ſeemeth indeed to have been laid aſide in the dayes of Belſhazzar, that drunken Sot, till the hand-writing on the wall brought him more in requeſt again, chap. 5. That cock on the dunghil knew not the worth of this peerleſſe pearl, highly prized both by his Predeceſſor and Succeſſors, to whom he was a ſecretis, of their privy Coucil. Famous he was grown (and worthily) for his extraordinary wiſdom, Ezek. 28.3. and holineſſe, Ezek. 14.14. ſo that the Angel Gabriel ſtileth him a man of Deſires or a Deſirable man, Dan. 9.23. Seneca calleth Cato Virtutum vivam imaginem, a lively picture of Virtues. Pliny ſaith that the ſame Cato Cenſorius was an excellent Orator, an excellent Senator, an excellent Commander,Lib. 2. and a Maſter of all good Arts. Paterculus ſaith, that he was a man as like Virtue,Dec. 4. lib. 9. as ever he could look, & per omnia virtut… diis quam hominibus propior. Livy ſaith, he was a man of rigid innocency, and invincible integrity.In vita Catonis. Cornelius Nepos, that being aſſayed and aſſaulted by many he not only never loſt any part of his reputation, but as long as he lived, grew ſtill in the praiſe of his virtues: as being in all things of ſingular prudence and induſtry. Laſtly, Cicero ſaith of Cato, Cato Major.that whereas he underwent the enmities of many potent perſons,Splendida peccata. and ſuffered no little hardſhip all his time, yet was he one of thoſe few who lived and dyed with glory. How much more truely might all this be affirmed of Daniel the Prophet, then of Cato the Cenſor? all whoſe virtues were but gliſtring ſins, and all whoſe praiſe-worthy parts and practiſes were but tinckling cymbals, in compariſon? Daniel's whole life was a kind of Heaven, adorned with moſt radiant ſtars of divine virtues.Sixt. Senenſ. Bib. Sanct. lib. 4. And although we cannot ſay of him, as Aleander of Hales did of his ſcholar Bonavanture in an Hyperbolical ſtrain, that Adam ſeemed to him not to have ſinned in Bonavanture: ſuch was his ſanctity and knowledge: yet, with more colour of truth, might the like he ſaid of Daniel, the Jews Jewel, and the Worlds darl…ng.Torſhel. He wrot this Book part of it in Hebrew, and part in Chaldee; all, in a ſhort but grave ſtile, evident and elegant, being a divine Polychronicon to the worlds end, or (as One calleth it) the Apocalypſe of the Old Teſtament.